I personally think they should of contacted you about the shortage and asked if you would still like the 5 1/2 yards shipped. I definately think they should of asked you before shipping it. What if it hadn't been enough?

This thread is sad.

The seller hasn't cheated anyone - she simply made a judgement call that didn't go the right way for this particular buyer.

Like I said, somewhere else a buyer in the exact same scenario will be angry with the seller for not going ahead and shipping the order short a half-yard!

Good grief, so many people wanting to leave negative feedback over something so small and completely insignificant! Negative feedback is for serious transgressions, not tiny little errors in judgement like this.

How many of us are 100% perfect ALL the time? This is dismaying, to say the least.

This situation doesn't warrant negative feedback IMHO, but I would email her and exlain why you gave her neutral feedback.

Sad? How so? Would you feel the same way if it were clothing? Say you ordered a large and were shipped a small...because "that's what I have" without the seller inquiring as to whether that is ok with you. I see this as no different. The customer has the right to get what they order or be notified if that specific order is unavailable.

The bottom line is that it is poor business practice to *assume* that anything other than what the customer ordered will be ok with the customer.

As for it not going the right way for "this particular buyer"...I am this buyer and never said that. I said that it bothered me that I wasn't notified before shipping. Even if another customer might prefer that she go ahead and ship the short cut, that customer still has the right to the choice. Me personally, I *would* have told her to go ahead and ship the shortage. But my choice was taken away.

Does it warrant flat out negative feedback? Perhaps not, but a mistake was made and the seller should be held accountable for it in some way. As her customer on ebay, the feedback I give is the way I can make that happen.

Sellers on Ebay can no longer leave negative feedback -

The seller should never have shipped the item 1/2 yd short - they should have notified you prior to shipping

Are they still selling the fabric or have they removed it from ebay?

Actually the Seller did cheat her, they misrepresented the amount of fabric they had - & compounded this mistake, because they didn't tell her they were shorting her a 1/2 yd, till it was too late to do anything about it.

It only takes a minute to email the buyer - When they do - there are 2 emails generated - 1 on Ebay and the other to your regular email address -

Mail is sooooo slow this time of year that I assume that a 1 day delay probably wouldn't be that much of a problem.

However, that being said, I am not sure how much your fabric cost a yd - but I get the feeling that the seller didn't want to lose the sale if she contacted you before shipping - and you told her you didn't want it

I would contact the seller to nicely explain to them how you feel - if you needed the 6 yds for a particular pattern you were doing, 5 1/2 yds is not going to cut it. I must see 5-6 emails a weeks from members that are making a quilt and are short a couple of inches to a couple of yds. I think the seller was playing the odds - most people will not go to the expense (time & return shipping costs) to return an item -

Also, ratings are not just positive, neutral or negative - but there is a 1 to 5 star rating as well. This is probably not the only time they have done this.

No longer selling it, that I can see. It was $4.50/yd.

This is exactly what I would do.

Deema,

Since you're feeling unsure about what feedback to leave... but I sense that you're quite sure that the seller should be given the opportunity to learn that she could have handled the shortage better, why not just contact her privately to let her know that?

Most people are open to constructive criticism, and any transaction that does not go perfectly probably has a "learning opportunity" associated with it.

I agree with you. Negative feedback is so drastic and so disheartening to a seller. Its just not always the case and should be used sparingly. If you didn't get your fabric at all, then a negative might be in order. She did send you what she had, which you can return for credit and she did give you credit for the 1/2 yard, and she did contact you. She has tried to make a bad situation right. Don't be so harsh with her. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. Would you like someone to leave negative feedback when you did try to resolve the problem? Its just not the right thing to do.